Zooming Along

Pexel via Pixabay

Last Thursday, I wore shorts and flip flops to class. Okay, it was a Zoom class, I didn't leave my house, and I was appropriately attired from the waist up, but still.  

Shorts and flip flops? In October? 

Without getting into climate change and the ridiculousness of 79 degree weather in the northeastern US in October, let's just say it was a fringe benefit of this crazy semester.

With four weeks remaining in the semester and everyone on Zoom overload, it's nice to focus on the benefits of Zoom days in my current hybrid learning situation.

• The aforementioned easy wardrobe. I like getting dressed for work on the days I go to campus, but Zoom days are a nice, easy (not to mention comfortable) change of pace.
• No commute, which means I can sleep a little later, get a little more prep work in before class and not only have a beverage during class, but even refill my iced tea between classes. 
• Everyone in the same place -- kinda. I thought I wanted to go fully online, but I do really enjoy getting to see my students in person. Still, I've grown rather fond of our our Zoom days, when I can see all their faces in one place.
• Breakout rooms. I love how easy it is to assign -- and re-assign -- people to small groups. We spent one whole class doing musical breakout rooms, re-convening briefly in between to synthesize material. It was lively, it was fun and we got to remind ourselves how to have actual conversations, even if they were online. 

October weather has returned to Central Pennsylvania norms, so today's outfit was leggings, a flowy blouse and a cardigan. I'm pretty sure my shorts days are behind me but I haven't ruled out discovering something new on Zoom.